For Doon, his first playoff appearance was tantamount to a college entrance exam.

Before entering the examination room, I was nervous and worried.

When I got the paper, I found out that I could do all these questions!

For a student like Doon, you can't get a full score, but no matter how bad the state is, it's still okay to get a high score just by relying on your foundation.

Just like Wiggins, he scored 178 points in the regular season and 178 points in the playoffs.

Doon's current physical fitness and basketball skills, as long as the ball is fine, can score more than 18 points, and he can go to 20 at best.

However, with a ball like this just now, Doon is still not ready to play.

It doesn't make much sense after all.

The Lakers are the first in the West, and the Big Five lineup on the surface is actually at least F4.

Doon replaces Payton, who has only averaged the level of a starter and has even been reduced to a role player when he can't fit into the triangle offense.

Despite this, the configuration of the four stars has also made the Lakers the strongest team in the league.

In other words, as long as nothing else, the Lakers can win the championship.

Even the Pistons in the East also have four All-Star players, but the quality of the OK combination is not comparable to Billups, Hamilton, Roaring Tianzun, and Big Ben.

Therefore, as long as the Lakers ensure the health of O'Neal, Malone and others, and do not self-destruct the Great Wall, this season's championship will be absolutely stable.

Playing a team like the Jazz, which is eighth in the West, the Lakers don't have to go all out.

What the Lakers really need to pay attention to is how to deal with the highland climate of Salt Lake City when they play away next.

Therefore, in order to take care of the two veterans O'Neill and Ma Long, take the initiative to lower the pace of the game and play steadily, which is the best way to win.

It is precisely for this reason that in order to reduce O'Neal's injury risk, Doon's next style of play changed from passing the ball to O'Neal to passing the ball to Kobe.

The Jazz's defensive strategy is joint defense, up-and-line pinching, and low-post pinching, the key of which is Kirilenko.

Doon will do the trick, hold the ball on the strong side and rush to O'Neal's side, and when he is caught in the pinch, he will pass the ball horizontally to Kobe Bryant at a 45-degree angle on the weak side.

In addition to the first ball, which was a little unsuitable for the intensity of the single defense, Kobe Bryant pulled up directly when he got the ball, and shot backwards and jumpers, the shooting rate was quite good, and he brushed a few assists for Doon.

Everyone who understands understands it, the same is the dealing, a single has no assist, a single has an assist, as a dealer, he must be more willing to pass the ball to the latter.

The Zen master understands the ball, and when he saw Doon passing the ball to Kobe Bryant, he guessed Doon's thoughts.

So after just over 4 minutes in the first quarter, the Zen master took advantage of the opportunity of the dead ball to replace O'Neill first.

Greg Ostertag the Great White Bear was originally a weapon that Jazz had always had on hand to target O'Neill.

Even if O'Neal can't get the ball, the big white bear will consume a lot of physical energy on O'Neal.

It is precisely because of this that O'Neal, who has been stuck in the position and competing with the big white bear, is still a little unhappy because he can't get the ball.

"My chances are so good, why didn't Doon pass the ball to me?"

"Doon, what kind of ecstasy soup did Kobe Bryant pour you, don't you want to rob him of the boss?"

O'Neill was puzzling at first, but after being transferred to the bench, O'Neal grinned and couldn't stop laughing.

"Kobe, Doon, you guys run for me!"

O'Neill seemed to use the towel as a whip, waving it on the sidelines.

One thing to say, O'Neal is not on the court to slow down the Lakers' conversion speed, and the Lakers can play a little faster.

Sloan didn't expect that the Zen master would boldly change O'Neill's big killer weapon to the field in advance.

Noticing the Lakers' substitution, Sloan was ready to let the Big White Bear take advantage of O'Neal's absence to play a few more under the basket!

It was also the Lakers who played two switching offenses, which readjusted the lineup and focused on strengthening Kobe's pinch.

Doon sensed the Jazz's defensive adjustments and directed Bryant to the low post.

Kobe Bryant will not only fight small, but also small and big! Although the low-post threat is not as strong as O'Neal, it is also a small pony now!

Considering the space to make room for Kobe Bryant's basket, coupled with the lack of points from the outside to attract defense, Doon instead asked Malone to come out of the low post to play with him.

As a result, Doon quickly recreated the exquisite pick-and-roll coordination between Stockton and Malone in front of Sloan.

Things are people, and this time Malone is no longer the Jazz boss and no longer plays for the Jazz.

Seeing this scene, Sloane's serious face inevitably showed a little loneliness.

Sloan proved that he could make the playoffs without Stockton and Malone, but unfortunately didn't win the championship with two of his henchmen.

With the help of Doon, the Lakers commander, Malone regained his shine on another Western powerhouse and beat the Jazz to the ground.

18-31, after the first quarter, it was clear that O'Neal didn't make much effort, and the Lakers had a 13-point advantage.

The disparity in strength between the two teams can be seen.

In the second quarter, although the Lakers did not open the champagne in advance, they also deliberately reduced the playing time of the two veterans, O'Neal and Malone.

First, Doon took Fisher and other substitute players and played for more than five minutes, and then Kobe, Malone, and O'Neal came on the court, first supported by O'Neal in the low post for two or three minutes, and then Kobe took over for another four minutes.

On the surface, it seems that the Lakers have been playing alone, just a simple star single.

In fact, this is under the triangle offensive system, under the combing of Doon, to create a great single opportunity for the OK combination.

Why are the playoffs a stage for superstars? Because when it comes to the playoffs, the stars are either being caught or on their way to being trapped.

The vast majority of All-Stars also have good singles ability, but they have been trapped, and their scoring efficiency will inevitably decline.

On the one hand, the triangle offense is to use superstars to attract defense and create scoring opportunities for role players, and on the other hand, it is also to reduce the burden on superstars and reduce the defensive intensity.

Doon wasn't that great, giving the ball to other role players. Even Payton, who had a good relationship in the regular season, didn't pass the ball.

Doon is a dead man who gives the ball to someone who is more sure to score it.

So he passed the ball to O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, and occasionally cooperated with Malone to block and dismantle.

42-58, after the first half of the game, testing his ability, Doon already knows how to lead the team to victory in the playoffs.

Of course, Doon's way of leading the team to win still needs the support of some stars.

Doon hasn't evolved to the point where he can kill all sides in the playoffs with a school of stinky fish and shrimp.

In other words, in the second half, although the Jazz's offense was still tepid, the defensive aggression was significantly enhanced.

And because the Jazz score is a lot behind the Lakers, the referee is embarrassed to blow the home whistle for the Lakers because of the Jazz's big defensive actions.

The Zen master also saw the referee's blowing penalty scale, and in order to avoid injuries to the main force, he did not play the main force as before, but continued the lineup of half main force and half rotation.

In this way, the Lakers' offense is naturally not as good as in the first half.

I have to say that Sloan deserves to be Sloan, and he has a good grasp of the referee's whistle-blowing psychology.

However, the Jazz made the Lakers' scoring drop slightly, but their own scoring data was only 20 points in a single quarter.

63-81, the Lakers, who finished the third quarter, not only were not narrowed, but still expanded their advantage by virtue of their own strength.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Zen master also continued to reuse Doon and let Doon fire infinitely.

In the first three quarters, Doon only shot 5-of-9, 1-of-3 from three-point range, 1-of-2 from the free throw line, and scored 12 points, 3 rebounds and 8 assists.

After more than 3 minutes in the fourth quarter, Doon relied on a three-pointer, a layup, and two free throws to score another 7 points.

It's just that the Jazz are resilient, and the point difference has not been further widened.

In the end, the Zen master could only replace a Kobe Bryant first to share the offensive pressure on Doon.

With more than 5 minutes to play in the fourth quarter, Doon relied on a conversion offense to score another 2 points.

After more than a minute, Sloan saw that O'Neill was still on the bench, and the Zen master had no intention of sending O'Neill up, and finally extinguished the idea of relying on shark-cutting tactics to turn defeat into victory.

With Sloan strategically abandoning the game, the Lakers' main team clocked out in the third quarter.

86-101, relying on Kobe, Doon scored 20, O'Neal and Malone both scored 15+, and the Lakers easily won the first win of the playoffs this season.

And Doon also scored the first playoff double-double of his career with 21 points, 4 rebounds and 10 assists.

(End of chapter)